Every customer-visible feature in WP Stories, what controls it, and where it is
documented. WP Stories ships as a single product - there is no Free/Pro split, so
every row below is available to every licence.
Accurate as of 2.5.0.
| Feature |
Status |
Controlled by |
Docs |
Admin-created stories (wb-story) |
shipped |
Stories > All Stories |
Quick setup |
Story collections (wb-story-box) |
shipped |
Stories > Story Collections |
Shortcodes |
Member-submitted stories (wb-user-story) |
shipped |
User Publishing tab |
User publishing |
| Photo stories |
shipped |
Allowed File Types |
User publishing |
| Video stories |
shipped |
Allowed File Types |
User publishing |
| Built-in photo editor (crop, rotate, text, draw, mask, filters), phone-friendly tool row |
shipped, reworked for phones in 2.5.0 |
Always on for members |
Post a story |
| Your story circle with + badge for posting |
new in 2.5.0 |
Instagram display style |
Post a story |
| Video first-frame preview in the posting form |
new in 2.5.0 |
Automatic |
Post a story |
| Story collections made by members (cover + name) |
shipped |
Integrations > Enable Story Collections |
Post a story |
| Per-item link and link text |
shipped |
Posting form |
Post a story |
| Per-item duration |
shipped |
Posting form (Story Duration is the default for photos) |
Post a story |
| Feature |
Status |
Controlled by |
Docs |
| Three tray styles (Square, List, Instagram) |
shipped |
General > Style |
General settings |
| Navigation arrows, cube effect, open effect |
shipped |
General settings |
General settings |
| Seen stories sorted last |
shipped |
General > Move Seen Stories to End |
General settings |
| Hide stories from logged-out visitors |
shipped |
General settings |
General settings |
| Circle size (Small, Medium, Large), responsive |
new in 2.5.0 |
Styling Options > Circle Size |
Styling options |
| Colour and gradient styling |
shipped |
Styling Options tab |
Styling options |
| Blurred photo backdrop in the viewer |
new in 2.5.0 |
Default; replaced by a Story Viewer Background colour |
Styling options |
| Dark mode |
shipped, circle names follow the theme in 2.5.0 |
Theme colours; Title Color overrides |
Styling options |
| RTL |
shipped, viewer mirrored in 2.5.0 |
Automatic from the site language |
Watch stories |
| Five shortcodes |
shipped |
- |
Shortcodes |
| Three widgets |
shipped |
Appearance > Widgets |
Shortcodes |
| Feature |
Status |
Controlled by |
Docs |
| Story Expiry (stories hide after N days) |
shipped |
Displaying Options |
Display options |
| Keep stories forever |
shipped |
Story Expiry off |
Display options |
| Scheduled deletion of expired stories |
shipped, fixed in 2.4.2 |
Displaying Options |
Display options |
| Configurable retention after expiry |
new in 2.4.2 |
Displaying Options > Delete After Expiry |
Display options |
| Delete story attachments with the story |
shipped |
Displaying Options |
Display options |
| Deletion paused on upgrade until confirmed |
new in 2.4.2 |
Automatic, one time |
Display options |
Members make one Who can see this story choice per post, applied to every photo and video in it.
| Feature |
Status |
Controlled by |
Docs |
| Visibility: Everyone |
shipped |
Available Visibility Options |
User publishing |
| Visibility: Private (you and site admins) |
shipped, relabelled 2.4.2 |
Available Visibility Options |
User publishing |
| Visibility: Members only |
shipped |
Available Visibility Options |
User publishing |
| Visibility: Friends only |
shipped, now works on every surface in 2.4.2 |
Available Visibility Options |
User publishing |
| Restrict posting by role |
shipped |
Authorized User Roles |
User publishing |
| Moderate stories before publishing |
shipped |
Default Publication Status |
User publishing |
| Per-member story and item limits |
shipped |
User Publishing tab |
User publishing |
| Role and file-size limits enforced on the server |
fixed in 2.5.0 |
Authorized User Roles, Maximum File Size |
User publishing |
| Who viewed and liked hidden from everyone but the author |
fixed in 2.5.0 |
Automatic |
Who viewed your story |
| Feature |
Status |
Controlled by |
Docs |
| Story views and view counts |
shipped |
Automatic |
Watch stories |
| Seen by list: compact rows, most recent first, likes shown, Load more |
shipped, reworked in 2.5.0 |
Integrations > Show Story Viewers |
Who viewed your story |
| Likes, including double-tap to like |
shipped, double-tap new in 2.5.0 |
Automatic for logged-in members |
Watch stories |
| Delete a photo or video from the viewer (author) |
new in 2.5.0 |
Automatic for the author |
Watch stories |
| Seen ring returns when new items are posted |
fixed in 2.5.0 |
Automatic |
Watch stories |
| Message a story author |
shipped |
Requires BuddyPress messages |
BuddyPress |
| Feature |
Status |
Controlled by |
Docs |
| BuddyPress activity + profile |
shipped |
Integrations tab |
BuddyPress |
| BuddyBoss Platform |
shipped |
Integrations tab |
BuddyBoss |
| PeepSo |
shipped |
Integrations tab |
PeepSo |
| Discover tab (Wbcom family, one-click install) |
new in 2.4.2 |
Discover tab |
Discover |
| Feature |
Status |
Notes |
| Action and filter hooks |
shipped |
Hooks and filters |
| Filterable access control |
new in 2.4.2 |
wp_stories_user_can_view_story_item |
| Filterable settings schema |
new in 2.4.2 |
wp_stories_settings_schema |
| BuddyPress profile page template |
shipped |
wp_stories_template_settings swaps the members/single/plugins template used by the Stories tab |
| REST API |
not provided |
Story post types are not exposed in the WordPress REST API by default (since 2.5.0, so private stories cannot be listed). A site that needs them can opt in with the wp_stories_show_in_rest filter. Front-end behaviour uses AJAX actions. |
| WPML / Polylang |
shipped, config new in 2.5.0 |
The interface is fully translatable and a POT ships. wpml-config.xml marks the story post types as not translated, so a story is shown in every language like a social feed. Change translate="0" to 1 to translate admin collections per language. |
Stated plainly so nobody has to go looking:
- No Free/Pro split. One product, one licence tier.
- No story analytics dashboard. View and like counts are per story item only.
- No scheduled/queued publishing. Stories publish on submit, or wait in
pending if moderation is on.
- No story archive for members. Once a story passes the expiry window it is
hidden everywhere, including from its author.
